Clear Coat Repairs: Who? How Much?

[LunarLight]

The clear coat has worn off the end cap of our painted fiberglass Class A DP. The top edges of the sides and the front cap are also sunburnt. I’ve called around our town to see who could fix this… of the people I’ve called, no one can (apparently there isn’t a spray booth big enough in our town). We live in Idaho so Florida is unfortunately a bit far away… but COULD be worth a vacation trip!

I’d love to know if anyone has had these areas fixed on their Class As? If so, where in the country and approximately how much was it? It’s not that the rest of the coach is in perfect condition, but having the caps and top edge cleaned up would be a relief. I’m trying to determine what’s worth traveling for and how much I should budget.

Thank you SO MUCH!
Abby

[Dutch Star Don]

We had it done on our 2005 Monaco Diplomat. Same areas as yours. We had them spray the sides above the drip rail, front cap down to the windshield and the rear cap down to a natural turn/break. It was done at an RV repair shop in Santa Clarita California. It was done about 12 years ago for about $5K. It required some sanding and we had fiberglass spiderwebbing in the front cap. That required a sand down to fiberglass and a special primer, upping the bill to the $5K total. The colors on the side of the coach rolled over onto the roof, we had the roof painted the same color, above the drip rail as our main color, keeping the project simple.

On our 2014 Dutch Star, with a lot of black around the roof line, we had a similar issue. On that coach, we did the same as the Diplomat. Instead of matching those colors, we had them do the entire roofline in white. Newmar paid part of that bill, but I believe the total was about $6K. The same shop did the work.

[MrMark52]

We had about half of our clearcoat redone at Quality Collision Repair in downtown Garland, TX. Alec does Awesome, Awesome, work and is a GREAT guy to work with. He does big coaches and RV’s all the time - during the week our coach lived with him he probably had as more $1M+ Coaches on his lot than $30k.

But realize - the year/model of our GB only has the “basement band” about 18” up from the bottom, all around the coach. He repaired some fiberglass dings and hairline fractures that I hadn’t noticed as well as did some final prep work on an approximate 1 foot square area that the guy who replaced our windshield damaged a couple of months before.

TBH - even though he had to shoot new base coat before the clear - you can’t tell it.

We paid cash - and it was right at $2000.00. If I were to guess - all in all it was about 30 square feet - that included the entry door, 3 basement doors, and across the front end cap.

Oh, and he got us in within about 10 days after calling. We drove by the next day after dropping the coach off, they had already moved it and we’re at work. They finished a day sooner than he predicted.

Alec is a Vet and was as respectful to us as Customer's as he was in serving our country.

[l1v3fr33ord1]

Abby-

I found a local (to me, that is, in New Hampshire) auto body shop that can work on commercial trucks and buses. They have the space and experience to work on large vehicles.

I have not used one, but I understand there are non-manufacturer paint shops near the motorhome manufacturing centers in the Midwest and Southeast.

Finally, there are paint shops in Mexico that work on motorhomes. Here is a link to a recent thread from an iRV2 member who had his coach repainted that way.

I've spent around $2,500 on fixing paint and clearcoat problems on our 31-foot coach.

[The Brews Cruise]

If you do happen to plan a trip to Florida, an excellent RV paint and body shop is at the North Trail RV Collision Center. I have seen their work before and after and the results were like new just from the factory. The collision center is in a separate building from the sales and service centers. Contact Frank at (239) 322-5946
www.northtrailrv.com
I have no connection with North Trail RV.

[sbleiweiss]

There are body shops in the Phoenix area that do this too. Ultimate Collision and RV Repair for one.

[MrMark52]

Just thinking - If your going so far as Phoenix then look at going across the border. I’ve read a lot about people having good results/quality for a better than fair price.

[bentjm]

I had this done last year. Brooks Collision in Piney Flats, TN. They have a 50' paint booth.

It was $4,200 for all of the radius areas and the front "hood".

Whoever does it will have to respray the color coat - you can't just respray the clear and expect it to look good or last.

[BobGed]

If it was me and I was planning on keeping the coach I would also seriously consider taking it to Mexico.

The following is a link to an excellent recent write up by Doug427 on having his coach completely repainted for around $6,000 in Puerto Penasco/Rocky Point.

https://www.irv2.com/forums/f59/in-p...re-576354.html

I realize it's quite a drive from Idaho but if you combine it with a snowbird winter get-a-way trip it's not too bad.

[bigb56]

Originally Posted by bentjm

Whoever does it will have to respray the color coat - you can't just respray the clear and expect it to look good or last.

This^^^. You may have someone give you a cheap price to try and fix the clear coat but it will not hold up, base coat/clear coat is a system that must be used together for proper results, the clear coat melts into the base coat and catalyzes into one when done properly, similar to a 2 part epoxy.